Tokyo Hotels, Candeo Hotels Ueno-Park, near Ueno Park

UENO
Forming part of the historic of Shitamachi, Ueno has always proudly thumbed its nose at the high fashions and fickle trends of the high-class districts in Yamanote.

Although rising real estate prices and recent gentrification have erased most vestiges of the old atmosphere, Ueno’s Ameya Yokocho, which was once the site of the largest postwar black market, still holds true to its proud roots even if the goods are legit now.

Historically, Ueno Hill was famous as being the site of a last-ditch defence of the Tokugawashogunate by an estimated 2000 loyalists in 1868. Devoted to preventing the restoration of the emperor, these adherents stationed themselves at Kanei-ji,a grand temple compound located up on the hill. They were duly dispatched by the imperial army, which prompted the subsequent Meiji government to decree that Ueno Hll would become one of Tokyo’s first parklands.

Today, Ueno-Koen is the neighbourhood’s foremost attraction and one of Tokyo’s most famous leafy retreats. Boasting a wealth of museums, shrines,a kid-friendly zoo, some phenomenal cherry-blossom viewing and the de facto front garden of Tokyo University, Ueno park for an afternoon is the perfect antidote to the urban grind.

The sprawling Ueno Station is the nexus of the neighbourhood, with the greater Asakusa area to the east and Akihabara and Kanda to the south. In Ueno itself, all thinds lead to the park with its myriad art museums; to get here, take the Ueno-koen(Ueno park) exit from Ueno Station.

UENO-KOEN(UENO PARK)
Tel 3828-5644  5m-11pm  JR Yamanote Line, Ginza or Hibiya Line to Ueno.

Tosay’s oldest public park has several names: its Sunday name, which no one ever uses, is Ueno Onshi Koen; some locals dub it Ueno no Oyama(Ueno Mountain);and English speakers call it Ueno Park. Which-ever you prefer, Ueno-Koen makes for a pleasant city escape.

TOKYO  NATIONAL  MUSEUM
(TOKYO KOKURITSU HAKUBUTSUKAN)
Tel 3822-1111 9:30am-5pm Tue-Sun;  JR Yamanote Line, Ginza or Hibiya Line to Ueno

If you visit only one museum in Tokyo, make it this one. The Tokyo National Museum’s grand buildings hold the world’s largest collection of Japanese art, and you could easily spend many hours perusing the galleries here. The building dates from 1939, and is in the imperial style, which fuses Western and Japanese architectural motifs.
 
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART
(KOKURITSU SEIYO BIJUTSUKAN)
Tel3828-5131  9.30am-5pm Tue-Sun, to 8pm Fri; JR Yamanote Line, Ginza or Hibiya Line to Ueno

This museum has its roots in French impressionism, but runs the gamut from medieval Modonna and Child images to 20th-century abstract expressionist painting.

All the big names are here, particularly Manet, Rodin, Miro, and Dutch Masters. It also hosts wildly popular temporary exhibits on loan from such stalwarts as the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The main building was designed by Le Corbusier in the late 1950s and is now on UNESCO’s World Heritage list; a couple of additions have been made since.

UENO ZOO(UENO DOBUTSU-EN)
Tel 3828-5171  9.30am-5pm Tue-Sun; JR Yamanote Line, Ginza or Hibiya Line to Ueno

Japan’s oldest zoo was established in 1882,and is home to lions and tigers and bears. The biggest attractions are normally the giant pandas. But the zoo’s only remaining panda, Ling Ling, passed away in 2008. as we went to press, a pair of new pandas was reportedly due to arrive from China in early 2011

AMEYA YOKOCHO(AMEYOKO ARCADE)
This unabashed shopping street is one of the few areas in which some of the rough readiness of old Shitamachi still lingers. Step into this alley paralleling the JR Yamanote Line tracks south of JR Ueno Station, and ritzy, glitzy Tokyo may seem like a distant memory. The gravelly irasshai(Welcom) and ikaga desu ka?(How about buying some?) of fishmongers, fruit and vegetable sellers, knock-off-clothing vendors and a healthy smattering of open-air markets couldn’t be further from Ginza or Aoyama

Toshogu Shrine
Tel 3822-3455  9pm-sunset daily

Toshogu is dedicated to the first Tokugawa shogun, leyau, and is similar to the shrine in Nikko(also called Toshogu) where hi is buried. The Ueno Toshogu was built in 1627, then remodelled in 1651. It has withstood earthquakes, fires and the battle of Ueno, and is one of Tokyo’s oldest buildings. The huge lantern on the left before the first gate is one of the temple, is famous for its dragon carvings.